Thursday, September 25, 2003

Avatar Association
It always takes me ages to find a new banner or avatar that I like, especially these days. When I first joined the boards everyone used the default avatars, and for at least a year I used a "Young Gohan" one. It was nice and everything, but it never really fit my username.

Once Version 3 rolled around and I reached 500 posts (back then we had to have 500 posts to get a custom avatar) I used my classic "Shyguy" avatar. The thing is my buddy icon now, since I felt too guilty to dispose of the thing entirely. Older members always associate me with that avatar for some reason, even though I haven't used it in well over a year. Since then I haven't really found any avatars or banners that seemed to fit.

It's strange how everyone can associate people with their avatars. Just recently Dragon Warrior made a new banner "I am OtakuBoards' Black Mage" because of avatar association. I know a lot of members will always think of Babygirl when they think of Faye Valentine, or Sephiroth when they think of Sephiroth (Bad example, I know) and it's fun to have a random thing like a cat remind you of someone you met on the boards.

What avatars/characters/things do you think people associate you with?
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Monday, September 22, 2003

Comings and Goings
Justin resigned today from his position as Otaku lounge mod. He's always been a presence on the boards; seeing his name absent from OB's main page is rather depressing. Of course, he hasn't "left forever" but his time at the boards is becoming increasingly sparse, hence the resignation. I had to resign from my position in Anime Lounge, but eventually came back stronger than ever.

So yeah, best of luck to KAMIKAZEE, and whenever I see a religious debate being blown out of proportion it will remind me of him...

Boba Fett has decided to leave because of "declining post quality," among other things, which brings us to a grand total of five OB casualties this season: Juuthena, Final Flash, Justin, Shaun and Boba Fett. No, it's not exactly a mass exodus, but the amount of older members is shrinking. Perhaps if I loved newbies as much as James I wouldn't be so bothered by this.

Enter Drix D'Zanth. James' decision to make him a moderator surprised me. Maybe I just expected members like Justin and Transtic to stick around forever, and never be replaced. He seems more than intelligent enough, anyone who is a self-proclaimed "Shyguy lovechild" is okay by my book. In either case, another moderator position has been filled by someone with a few months experience, and it'll be interesting if he can keep up with such an active forum.
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Tuesday, September 16, 2003

DiscoSnorlax... who?
Yay, DiscoSnorlaz is back on the boards, and I couldn't be more enthusiastic about it. I vaguely remember him from the old Otaku days, and my brain is in the "Anything old must be good" mode. Even if he turns out to be a spammer (or someone who can't handle the current rules) it's nice to know that OB members don't randomly disappear from the face of the Earth.

More than two years have passed since I joined the boards, and for well over a year I have been asking myself, "Am I ever going to leave?" It's not like I'm in a huge hurry to leave the boards or anything, and I'm not even sure I could ever fully leave the place. If nothing else, morbid curiosity would keep me visiting this place for another few years at least. That's most likely what DiscoSnorlax is doing now; just checking in on things and seeing how much it has changed.

I've spoken about leaving a million times, but it all comes down to that final conversation with James. Resigning isa difficult thing for me to do, but any of the current anime mods (except for one) would be great as Category Moderators. There isn't much worry about finding an adequate replacement.

Being a member is nice and all, but my moderator duties are one of the main things keeping me around here. To some I might disappear, but I've always planned on keeping in touch with my online friends long after I've left the boards.

Will anyone remember me when I come back to visit in a few years? Will anyone I remember still be around? Hmm...

So yeah, I have a lot of random questions, if you feel like commenting:

When do you think you will leave the boards? Will you try to continue the friendships you made here? What members do you miss the most? Do you enjoy the taste of a yellow fatty bean? etc.
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Monday, September 15, 2003

*Yawn*
'Nuff said,
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Friday, September 12, 2003

Thread Archive: 9/11 Threads
Here is a collection of threads with a central theme.

OMFG This is serious!

Silence for the World Trade Center

Do u want to kill the terrorists that caused all of this to happen?

Would you serve your country?

My boyfriend died in the NYC accident...

Comforting...
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Tuesday, September 9, 2003

Fun Threads 9/08
Star Wars: Blind Faith - Mitch, Fan-Fiction & Literature" Justin is writing Star Wars fan-fiction again, yay! This one deals with a lot of New Jedi Order stuff, and sadly I have never been a huge fan of the NJO book series It's been a long whle since Justin has written anything in the fan-fiction forum, and it's always great to see more established members post their writings.

I am a god. - Otaku Lounge: The title itself makes this an interesting thread to view, but the most surprising part is that the actual topic isn't a complete waste of server space. I guess it's not the most serious discussion, but it's somnething that I have found myself wondering at times. Our pets are so dependent on human beings, I wouldn't be surprised if they thought of us as being some sort of deity-like figure. Hmm.

The Magical "Music" of Disney - Music, Movies & TV: I really like the discussion in this thread, since I'm a very big Disney fan. Sadly, this is one of those threads where I read the posts and find myself unable to say anything of value. This has been happening to me a lot lately, and that's part of the reason that I post so rarely. Oh well.

[plug]Feel free to post your own fun threads in my comments box![/plug]
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Sunday, September 7, 2003

Random Advertisements and Such
I would like to include links to my friend's (and associates) sites, but nobody has any banners made. So if you're a friend and/or associate, and want your site linked here, I'd be more than happy to post it up.

Maybe when/if I get a real site online I'll make a links page for you guys. Hm.
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OBsolete.
A couple of members have been leaving over the past few weeks; including Juuthena, Final Flash and Shaun. Members leave all of the time, but it's always sad to see them disappear in such a steady stream. I guess this happens after the Summer, when some people decide that they do not have enough time for OB and school. When school is out things will pick up again, even though they weren't especially active this Summer.

Part of that I'm blaming on MyOtaku, since this collective of blogs is slowly draining away the member base at OB.

Not that it's a bad thing. I think that MyOtaku is going to bring people closer together than the boards ever had, which in turn will make our beloved forums obsolete.

Everyone has control over their Myotaku site, so on a basic level everyone is equal. This is a good thing, because there isn't a need for any staff members. Now members like James and Sara, who have been in the "spotlight" of OB can relax and not deal with constsant questions and complaints by other members.

There's some irony about writing all of this on a MyOtaku site, but I'm too tired for irony right now. I've had enough of it from Disney this week...
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Tuesday, September 2, 2003

Babygirl and Shy Don't Meet in Real Life!
That's pretty much the story right there. Jenna was going to visit Disneyland yesterday, but she eventually decided not to because she was afraid that her Annual Pass wouldn't work.

It's not a huge deal, but I was looking forward to seeing her. I spent most of the day looking around and trying ot find her at work; I even went as far as to warn my co-workers about her. "If a beautiful woman with brown hair comes looking for me, call me!" Everyone thought I was nuts, but I was afraid of not being able to find her in the crowds. Disneyland is such a mess during the summer, but at least the Summer season ended yesterday. There will be considerably less crowds now, yay.

It has been over a year since Jenna moved to Cali, and every time we talk one of us always says, "We need to meet sometime!" Disneyland is a good place for us to meet since it's about halway between Ventura and Cali (Is that right, Jenna?)

So yeah, she's coming on Wednesday, and I'll keep you guys posted about that. If there are any pictures taken I'll post them on MyOtaku site instead of OB, since the photo forum is getting incredibly stalker-ish these days.
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#9
I'm #9 on the popularity listing, which is cool. I had recently fallen out of the Top 10, and wondered how low it would drop. Apparently it was nothing, because people have been visiitng the site steadily. This thing has about 1/5 the ammount of visitors that OtakuPike has ever had... weird.

What is your MyOtaku ranking?
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